MuuMuu101's 68 Dart, A Learning Process...

MuuMuu101 said

Honestly, ever since college and working on the SAE Baja Club, working on cars has given me a lot of anxiety with the fear that I will make a mistake or ruin something. It was a very negative environment and every time I messed up someone would either cuss me out or tell me how worthless I was despite the crazy hours I put in. That's why I left the club after 2-3 years despite how successful we were. My physical and mental health declined very quickly.

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I have BSME and MSME also; Masters is in Dynamic Systems and Controls.

I was an ASE certified Master Tech who previously worked for MSD, worked as a crew chief for a circle track car and also worked crew on a top alcohol dragster. At work I was a shop foreman. I went to college for two years at UTEP and the SAE Baja guys were pretty laid back, liked it when I had time to drop by and help them out. I then transferred to UT Austin. In Austin they did not have Baja but they did have Formula SAE. It was a toxic little click, the core group was pretty full of themselves. I stopped by and asked if they could use a hand, did not tell them anything about my background. They treated me like something that was stuck on their shoes and told me that essentially they knew everything and didn't need any help. If I wanted to join their club I could start out by helping sand down the paint on a 38 Chevy they had sitting out back. I was working a lot of hours, was married, and was going to school full time so I just stayed clear. Every once in a while I would walk through to see what they were up to. Eight years later when I went back and did my Masters there the group was a little more laid back but did not seem to be as competitive.

You are probably over thinking everything. I started working on cars when I was 16 and didn't know anything. Because I didn't know anything I was fearless. Just dive in. These old cars are pretty simple machines.